THE TY BLOG

Judaeans In Sports: Testing Personality in Football

We don't know of too many Judaeans who have become professional athletes. (We would love to hear of the stories of any who have.) But recently, the New York Times ("N.F.L. Tries New Method for Testing Mental Agility") reported on the impact one former Tel Yehudah, Camp Judaea and Year Course alum is having on the world of professional football. Harold Goldstein, a professor of industrial and organizational psychology at Baruch College in New York, has devised a new psychological test taken by hundreds of college football players at the annual NFL scouting combine.

...the players at this week’s combine are facing a new segment in their extended job interviews: an hourlong psychological assessment designed to determine and quantify the nebulous qualities that coaches have long believed make the most successful players — motivation, competitiveness, passion and mental toughness — and to divine how each player learns best. The new test, like the Wonderlic, is mandatory for the more than 300 players who attend, and it will be given for the first time Friday.

While many coaches and general managers consider the Wonderlic particularly useful in evaluating quarterbacks and offensive linemen, positions that are believed to demand the greatest intellect because of the need to decipher complex defenses, the hope is that the new test, called the Player Assessment Tool, will give teams clearer insight into a broader range of players.

Read the full article here and tell us about other Judaeans in sports.